One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Ames you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant cerastium.

Planting Calendar for Cerastium

Frost tolerance for cerastium:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant cerastium a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant cerastium in Ames is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cerastium and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cerastium may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cerastium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ames. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ames is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ames there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cerastium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ames

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ames

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ames.